Spot the problem

[Timj]

never an easy fix. So, what gets you up and going quick and easiest?
-drill two more holes in the base.
May weaken base more.
-drill and tap a new hydraulic port and plug old
Need proper tap and plug.
-just throw the other cylinder on and see how it goes. May leak a little?
-polish other cylinder and use.

Think I'd do whatever was quickest and polish up the parts cylinder when I had time to do a good job.
Tim

[Eugen]

never an easy fix. So, what gets you up and going quick and easiest?
-drill two more holes in the base.

Done, about 35 degrees to the original. Still not enough clearance for the line.

May weaken base more.
-drill and tap a new hydraulic port and plug old
Need proper tap and plug.
-just throw the other cylinder on and see how it goes. May leak a little?
-polish other cylinder and use.

Think I'd do whatever was quickest and polish up the parts cylinder when I had time to do a good job.
Tim

at this point I was tired of fooling around. Put the old rod on the slightly pitted cylinder with mix of the best o rings. The old base plate, hopefully it doesn't leak, I kinda banged the steel line coming out of it.

Let me tell you, there so little wiggle room, only a particular sequence of moves will get that cylinder back to where it came from. I'll describe it in a post later, maybe it'll save someone a little time.

When I was about to put in the last clip on the upper pin I heard crying on two different voices which meant the boys are up and I need to run in.

Stay tuned folks, there may be another instalment tonight, or if not, tomorrow.

[Eugen]

After the kids were fast asleep I sneaked out like a ninja, singlemindedly focused on that last spit pin! My blood offering to the mosquito lord seemed to have been accepted, as many little blood suckers descended upon me. Put the split pin on, added Rotella 15w-40. No matter how careful I am, I always see to overfill a little, and then need to clean up.

Fired it up a little, and moved the hitch up and down. Indeed the lever of hydraulic oil went down after some bubbles surfaced and the hitch moved. It was very dark and the mosquitos were relentless, but I could not see any leaks in that short time. I won't have the time to hook up a pressure gauge and adjust the pressure on the hitch lift. I do want to decrease the setting on the pressure relief valve on the lift. Soon(ish).

In the meanwhile we finally got some much needed rain last night, not a lot, but enough to hopefully loosen up the soil a little, so I can hit it with the plow in the next day or so. Followed by the tiller. It's late for potatoes and onion, I know. I just can't help myself.

[Eugen]

Here's the sequence of moves I came up with to put the lift cylinder back on.

1. Insert the piston rod into the cylinder tube such that it comes out the other side about 3/4 to 1".
2. Insert the base plate such that the steel hydraulic line protruding from it is in the lowest position around the circle of the cylinder base. This gives the largest clearance to the 1/2" pin holding the cylinder in place at the bottom.
2. Screw in the top hydraulic line, by turning the cylinder. Yes, the line does not rotate, so the cylinder needs to rotate. I went hand tight.
3. Push both the base plate and cylinder rod in until the base plate clears the pin holes. I used the hammer handle to do this.
4. Insert a large screw driver in the pin holes at the bottom of the cylinder to have some counter force, and tighten the upper hydraulic line with the 5/8 wrench. I suppose you can do this after you install the cylinder, but at this point I found more room than at the end.
5. Hook up the lower hydraulic line. This can be done with a 5/8 wrench and another counter wrench, as the line has a sleeve nut.
6. Pull the cylinder rod out as far as it goes and rotate it so that the upper pin has a path clear of the upper hydraulic line. At this point the cylinder or rod are not pinned, and hanging only on the hydraulic lines.
7. Position the cylinder rod and install the pin.
8. Rotate the cylinder to the bottom holes are aligned with the holes in the frame mount, and insert the pin.
9. Put the split pins on.
10. Replenish hydraulic oil as needed and turn the tractor on, moving the hitch up and down a few times. Replenish oil as needed.

This worked for me, ymmv

[MattA]

Random question for you Eugen... When plowing are you using down pressure or up pressure or float on the attachment? I recall my snowcaster manual says to use the float position. I'm wondering if a broken lift cylinder is the reasoning...

I've never seen a sleeve hitch setup in person. Does up and down of the travel lever move the sleeve hitch up and down or is the movement reversed?

[Eugen]

Random question for you Eugen... When plowing are you using down pressure or up pressure or float on the attachment? I recall my snowcaster manual says to use the float position. I'm wondering if a broken lift cylinder is the reasoning...

I've never seen a sleeve hitch setup in person. Does up and down of the travel lever move the sleeve hitch up and down or is the movement reversed?

I plow on float. However, the plow goes deep and when I'd get stuck would lift the plow. Sometimes I reverse a bit and then lift. It's possible my plow isn't properly set up. When it's stuck deep and I lift the forces on that little cylinder are huge. I won't do that anymore now that I know what can happen.

The lever and movement of the hitch are reversed.

[Timj]

Your plow is going to want to dig in and go deep, it can't be helped much. If you flatten it out to much it won't go in the ground. Finding the sweet spot will help. They definitely put alot of strain on the system.
On my 3pt I've always had to get the plow in the ground and then hold up a little to keep it at right depth. If It was my plow I'd put a wheel on it to control the depth and plow in float.
Tim

[DavidBarkey]

The biggest advantage to a 3 pt. is that you can use clip on cylinder stops to hold the depth of implement . I am thinking you might be able to acheave the same result with a chain of the back of the diff for sleeve hitches .
Dave

[Eugen]

The biggest advantage to a 3 pt. is that you can use clip on cylinder stops to hold the depth of implement . I am thinking you might be able to acheave the same result with a chain of the back of the diff for sleeve hitches .
Dave

Dave, I don't really understand what you mean by a chain of the back of the diff for sleeve hitches?

So, here's my big dillema. My 446 has the 16" wheels with ag tires with big lugs and the JD combine weights, really diggs well into the soil, but no 3pt hitch. My 644 has the 3 pt hitch, but no rear wheel weights and worn out lugs on the rear tires. I'd have loved to put the 16" wheels from the 446 on the 644, but they won't fit under the fender grrrrrr!

Maybe try and put some sort of a wheel on the plough to keep it at a certain depth, like Tim says. That will need I find a wheel, and a way to attach it to the plough.

[Timj]

Here is a link to some guys running depth wheels for ideas.
https://youtu.be/ls9FSkdsIBc